


Caged Bird

by alfing



Category: One Piece
Genre: Dressrosa Arc, Fluff, M/M, Parallels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 02:16:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10934901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfing/pseuds/alfing
Summary: Luffy notices a parallel between Law and a sad raven he once met as a kid.





	Caged Bird

**Author's Note:**

> a short little drabble I thought of while rereading the Dressrosa Arc

The midnight color of the feathers is what caught Luffy’s attention. The boy stood on the tips of his toes as he stared into the cage that hung beside the wall. Inside was a raven whose head was drooped so low its beak touched its chest. The owner of the raven, a short, balding man with oddly shaped glasses, approached him with a polite smile.

“I see you’ve found something that interests you,” he noted, pushing up his glasses with the tip of his finger. Luffy turned quickly to look at the man with wide, innocent eyes.

“It looks sad,” the boy commented, fixing the straw hat that sat on his head.

“That’s because he’s lonely,” the man explained. “I’d set him free so he can find a mate, but he won’t even let me unlock the cage. It’s almost humanlike, the way he behaves. Like he doesn’t want to find another bird to love.”

Luffy wrinkled his nose at the romanticism. “I won’t let him be lonely, old man. Can I visit again to say hi?” he asked with a smile.

“Of course you can.”

“A sad raven?” Luffy had returned to the mountain where he lived with Dadan and Ace. He told his older brother all about the raven that didn’t want to leave his cage. “That’s dumb. Birds don’t do those kinds of things. They peck their beaks into the ground for worms and attack you when you try to steal their eggs from their nest.”

“But this one’s different, Ace! He looked super sad, I thought he was gonna cry!” Luffy insisted with a pout. “You should come with me next time I go visit!”

Ace picked his nose with an apathetic attitude. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll just got hunting without you.”

“No fair! I wanna go hunting, too!”

“You can’t go if you’re gonna visit that bird,” the older boy asserted, crossing his arms.

Both Luffy and Ace glared at each other until finally, the younger huffed and turned away. “Fine, whatever, I don’t need to go hunting with you. I’m gonna visit that raven because I promised I would,” he said stubbornly. “And you can’t break a promise.”

 

Nine years later in the New World, Luffy met another raven. Well, this time it wasn’t an actual raven. Unless Law was secretly a bird in disguise. That would explain why he wore such a funny looking shirt.

“I’m not a bird,  _ Mugiwara _ -ya,” the surgeon had commented. It would seem that Luffy had accidentally said that part aloud. The rubber-man laughed loudly anyway and slung a rubbery arm around his ally, but was quickly pushed away by a tattooed hand. “Stop doing that.”

“Stop doing what?” Luffy asked innocently, tilting his head.

“Touching me,” he continued, looking away to hide his expression. From where Luffy was, he could see the tips of Law’s ears turn slightly red, so he tried to look around to see the rest of his face but was kicked away.

“Aw, no fair,  _ Torao _ ! I thought we were friends!” he booed, pouting. Law stood up, carrying his  _ Kikoku _ with him.

“We’re only allies,  _ Mugiwara _ -ya,” he insisted before walking off. Luffy watched him leave, unsure of what to do to convince them they were friends.

 

Three days later, Luffy paid a visit to the old man’s home again. He was welcomed inside and a chair waited for him beside the bird cage. He enthusiastically rushed over to the raven to see how it was doing. It still had its head bent down solemnly, causing the boy to frown.

“Hey, hey, bird! It’s me, Luffy!” he called, trying to get its attention. “Y’know, I really wanna be your friend, so you gotta talk to me, too, okay?”

The raven said nothing as it continued to hide itself in its own feathers. Luffy tilted his head at it but sat back as he began talking to it again. “My big brother Ace told me that birds are only dumb and can’t do all the smart stuff you do. He even said he would go hunting without me. But y’know, I said I didn’t care because I promised you I would come visit you and to break a promise is unmanly!” he ranted childishly, swinging his legs. “I decided that if you make a promise to a friend, you can’t break it, no matter what.”

Luffy continued to visit the raven every other day to talk about all the things he had did when he was gone. And every time he visited, the raven seemed to start hiding less and less, one time it even squawked happily in response to one of his stories. In the background, the old man watched fondly, glad the two finally got along.

 

Law was slumped over Luffy’s shoulder as they raced through Dressrosa, buildings falling everywhere as Doflamingo’s strings closed in on them. The surgeon was still injured from getting shot so many times earlier and the rubber man could feel the blood dripping down his arm from the open wounds. The sensation caused him to frown, panic rising in his chest.

“Hey,  _ Torao _ , shouldn’t you get bandaged up?” he asked hesitantly.

“There’s no time,” came the gruff reply.

Luffy didn’t bring up the bandages again as they made their way towards the castle. In their fight with Doflamingo, there were many moments where Luffy thought his ally had actually been killed, his heart filling with dread at the thought. But it was because of this battle that the two were brought closer together than ever. In fact, every time Luffy claimed they were friends, Law didn’t protest. And that’s what really mattered.

 

The last time Luffy visited the raven was when he was seventeen and about to set off on his pirate journey. The old man was sitting in a rocking chair beside the cage when Luffy came in unannounced.

“Ah, Luffy, about to head out to sea?” the old man noticed fondly, rocking back and forth.

“ _ Shishishi _ ! Yep! I came to say bye to the raven,” the boy replied as he turned to the bird cage. The raven squawked at him in greeting. The old man stood slowly, grabbing a cane that had been resting beside him.

“Actually, I was thinking about letting him go,” he declared suddenly. Luffy stared at him with wide eyes as the old man smiled gently. “He’s actually been wanting to fly out lately, thanks to you, I bet. So I’ll let you do the honors of opening his cage.”

The straw hat wearing boy grinned excitedly as he reached out to unlock the door of the cage. Inside, the raven hopped out and tilted its head at him before shaking its wings, spreading them, and flying out the window. An amazed Luffy watched for a few moments as the raven soared through the clear, blue sky before adjusting his hat and turning to the man behind him.

“Thanks, old man! I’ll always remember this!”

 

Luffy stared at Law intently while travelling on Bartolomeo’s ship. After defeating Doflamingo and freeing Dressrosa, there was something...  _ different _ about his ally. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. Did he get a haircut before they left? Or maybe it was a new tattoo?

“ _ Mugiwara _ -ya, you’re thinking so hard I can hear your gears turning from here,” Law commented in annoyance, not even bothering to look in his direction.

“Hey,  _ Torao _ , did you get your beard trimmed or something?”

“Did that swordsman of yours give you too much  _ sake _ or something? Don’t ask weird questions.” Luffy pounced on the older pirate, looking at him closely, noses almost touching. Law looked extremely uncomfortable under his intense gaze, and tried to look away.

“Are we friends?” Luffy asked. When his ally responded only by continuing to look away with a slight blush, he knew he had his answer. “Y’know, I really love  _ Torao _ !”


End file.
